Dramatic Reduction in Hospital-Acquired Conditions

The incidence rate of hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) in the United States has dropped by 17% over a 4-year period, according to a new report by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS; Washington DC, USA) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

The report, a compilation of data from more than 3,000 hospitals, showed that the measured interim rate for 2014 held steady, at 121 HACs per 1,000 discharges, down from 145 in 2010. In all, the cumulative total of HACs experienced by hospital patients over the four years (2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014) was 2.1 million fewer than the number of HACs that would have occurred if rates had remained steady at the 2010 level. The researchers also estimated that nearly 87,000 fewer patients died in the hospital as a result of the reduction in HACs, with almost USD 20 billion in health care costs saved.

The biggest reductions were in adverse drug events (accounting for 40% of the total reductions in HACs), pressure ulcers (28%), and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs, 16%). According to the report, although the precise causes of the decline in patient harm are not fully understood, the increase in safety did occur during a period of concerted attention by hospitals throughout the United States to reduce adverse events, an effort that was spurred in part by Medicare payment incentives and catalyzed by the HHS Partnership for Patients (PfP) initiative.

“Having been involved in this business for much longer than I care to remember, to see the progress here—87,000 fewer people dying over the last four years than would have died if the 2010 rates remained in place—is very heartwarming for me,” said Richard Kronick, PhD, director of the AHRQ. “Progress was also made possible by investments made by AHRQ in producing evidence about how to make care safer, investing in tools and training to catalyze improvement, and investing in data and measures to be able to track change.”

“As a practicing physician in the hospital setting, this work in improving patient safety is one of, if not the most important, thing we could do for patients,” said Patrick Conway, MD, chief medical officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS; Baltimore, MD, USA; www.cms.gov). “Patients want to avoid infections and adverse harm events, and we need to have health system that's as safe as possible for all patients.”

Related Links:
US Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services